SAN JOSE — There was no dumping of a water bucket on the top of Los Altos baseball coach Donnie Ecker’s head. The No. 10 Eagles had just held off No. 7 Willow Glen-San Jose for a dramatic 5-4 Central Coast Section Division I victory on Thursday. However, Ecker’s Eagles kept their poise, despite being down going into the sixth inning on the road.

“It does feel good,” said Ecker, who notched his first CCS victory as a coach. “We don’t talk about it like it’s a CCS game. It’s just the next game on the schedule. I’m proud of the guys.”

Thursday’s game was a rematch of last year’s Division II first-round game, won easily by the Rams, 10-0. Willow Glen (16-12) went on to win the Division II title.

“They took us out last year, so we came out early and grinded and got ahead early,” Los Altos center fielder Chase Eller said. “It was a battle. We got a lot of guys on base, but we left them on, and that killed us.”

The Rams had the winning run on at first base with two out in the bottom of the seventh, but sophomore lefty Trevor Rogers got the final hitter to ground out to record his third save of the year. Rogers, who started the sixth inning, retired five of the first six hitters he faced. He got defensive help when Patrick McColl flagged down a line drive off the bat of Matt Toscano to end the sixth inning with a runner on at first base.

The win went to Matt Bicker, who relieved southpaw starter James Oleson in the third inning with the Eagles ahead 2-1. The Rams took a 4-2 lead with three runs in the bottom of the fourth, the key blow a two-run single by Matt Toscano.

Los Altos scored three runs in the top of the sixth to take the lead for good. Thomas Kelleher struck out swinging, but the ball got away, allowing Kelleher to leg it to first base on the wild pitch. Sophomore Adam Spielman laced one into the left field corner. The ball took a detour from Rams left fielder Jack Rothenberg, enabling Kelleher to score and Spielman to hustle into third for a triple. McColl hit a sky shot into left-center, the ball falling safely for an RBI double. McColl then stole third base for the second time in the game. Duke Myers’ sac fly drove in McColl for what proved to be the winning run.

McColl scored the first run of the game when Chase Eller singled with one out in the top of the first. Eller got a second RBI when he drew a bases-loaded walk in the second inning, the Eagles ahead 2-0.

Spielman, who added a double, was one of three Los Altos players with two hits with Eller and McColl the other two.

“I struggled at the beginning of the year,” said Spielman, who scored two runs. “Our third base coach took me aside and told me I was drifting at the plate. I wasn’t seeing the ball well. I’m seeing the ball better.”

“Look at some of the young guys,” Ecker said. “To watch them where they were in February and where they are now, is a beautiful thing. It’s a credit to the players.”

The Eagles, who outhit the Rams 8-7, did not make an error. The win for the Eagles was their ninth in their past 12 games.

“We’ve been coming together as a team,” Spielman said. “We’ve gotten better since the middle of the season to the end.”

“If we keep grinding and don’t look too far ahead, we can make a run,” McColl said.

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